Comment is free + Phil Woolas | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+politics/phil-woolas
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Oldham byelection may give all three main parties a kick | Dan Hodgeshttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/03/oldham-byelection-labour-conservative-lib-dem
With Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems all nervous, keep an eye on Nick The Brick and the Bus Pass Elvis party<p>Things are getting <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/28/oldham-east-byelection" title="Guardian: Oldham East byelection will be test for all parties">edgy in Oldham</a>. And not just because <a href="http://www.delvsie.com/" title="www.delvsie.com">Nick &quot;The Flying Brick&quot; Delves</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Militant_Elvis_Party" title="wikipedia.org: Church of the Militant Elvis Party">Bus Pass Elvis party</a> are making their presence felt. There's a reason all three party leaders have started the new year nervously scouring the canvas returns from Crompton, Alexandra and St James &amp; Waterhead.</p><p>The problem is the voters are misbehaving. According to the byelection script the Conservatives were meant to stand diplomatically aside while Labour and the Lib Dems settled their differences once and for all. Debbie Abrahams versus Elwyn Watkins in a good, clean, fight; a clear line drawn under all that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/10/phil-woolas-labour-fall-guy" title="Cif: Phil Woolas is Labour's fall guy">Phil Woolas unpleasantness</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/03/oldham-byelection-labour-conservative-lib-dem">Continue reading...</a>ByelectionsOldham East and Saddleworth byelectionPoliticsPhil WoolasUK newsLabourConservativesLiberal DemocratsMon, 03 Jan 2011 15:45:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/03/oldham-byelection-labour-conservative-lib-demMartin Rickett/PAEd Miliband speaking in Oldham today, with Debbie Abrahams, Labour's candidate for the Oldham East and Saddleworth. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PAMartin Rickett/PAEd Miliband speaking in Oldham today, with Debbie Abrahams, Labour's candidate for the Oldham East and Saddleworth. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PADan Hodges2011-01-03T15:45:10ZThe Phil Woolas case highlights confusion in election law | Jacob Rowbottomhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/dec/08/phil-woolas-election-law
The law tries to distinguish between personal and political false statements during campaigning. It needs revisiting<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/03/phil-woolas-loses-bid-overturn-court-decision" title="Guardian: Phil Woolas loses bid to overturn court decision removing him from parliament">Phil Woolas has fallen foul</a> of section 106 of the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/2" title="UK Legislation: Representation of the People Act 1983">Representation of the People Act 1983</a>, which provides that it is an illegal practice to make a false statement about a candidate &quot;for the purpose of affecting the return of any candidate at the election&quot;. While that provision was not previously well known, the attention it is now receiving is a chance to consider whether a law carrying a criminal sanction is the best way to safeguard the standards of political debate.</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/dec/08/phil-woolas-election-law">Continue reading...</a>Phil WoolasPoliticsLawUK newsWed, 08 Dec 2010 10:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/dec/08/phil-woolas-election-lawDave Thompson/PAPhil Woolas lost his bid to overturn a court decision removing him from parliament for making false statements about a rival candidate in the last general election. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PADave Thompson/PAPhil Woolas on 5 November 2010. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PAJacob Rowbottom2010-12-08T10:00:01ZMembers of parliament: Westminster vice and virtue | Editorialhttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/04/members-parliament-westminster-vice-virtue
MPs arrived at Westminster after the general election amid hopes – not least their own – that politics would at last be able to turn over a new leaf<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/18/john-bercow-speaker-new-politics" title="">MPs arrived at Westminster after the general election</a> amid hopes – not least their own – that politics would at last be able to turn over a new leaf. There was a new and untainted intake of backbenchers, a fresh approach to Commons business and, not before time, an independent expenses watchdog. Atop it all was a coalition promising a revival of cabinet government, a new tone of respect between the parties and an enticing programme of political modernisation. The shame and sleaze of the old parliament was in the past. A new political era was opening in which public trust could be rebuilt.</p><p>Anyone who has managed to focus on events at Westminster in the past few days – not easy, what with the weather, the World Cup and the WikiLeaks – could be forgiven for thinking that things are not turning out quite as hoped. Yesterday, for example, one former Labour MP <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/03/david-chaytor-mps-expenses-guilty" title="">David Chaytor</a>, pleaded guilty to three charges of false accounting on his expenses, while another, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11904630" title="">Phil Woolas</a>, lost his bid to overturn an election court decision to strip him of his seat for telling lies about his Lib Dem opponent.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/04/members-parliament-westminster-vice-virtue">Continue reading...</a>MPs' expensesHouse of CommonsPoliticsPhil WoolasSat, 04 Dec 2010 00:06:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/04/members-parliament-westminster-vice-virtueEditorial2010-12-04T00:06:38ZThe Phil Woolas affair is about the soul of the Labour party | Sunny Hundalhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/12/phil-woolas-labour-immigration
Immigration fears are driven by feelings of economic insecurity – Labour must address those, not head down a blind alley on race<p>Was Harriet Harman right to distance the Labour party from Phil Woolas after he was found guilty of lying in election leaflets? The public <a href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2870" title="">thinks so</a>; some Labour MPs don't – unleashing a ferocious internal argument. But this isn't just about whether Harman was too rash or whether Woolas deserves a second chance; it's about competing visions of the future of Labour. It goes to the core of the party's soul.</p><p>Behind his support lies the belief by a number of Labour MPs that Woolas was right to be strident on immigration. It was the number one issue on doorsteps, they resolutely keep repeating (apparently no one cared about the economy), and nothing less than a rollout of &quot;Are You Thinking What We're Thinking?&quot; posters, long after Michael Howard abandoned them, will get Labour re-elected.</p><p>&quot;An ex-minister wrote last week of how we needed to 'crack down on the welfare underclass'. Others argue for us to become the 'anti-immigration party'. A new kiss up, kick down politics that blames the victim. There lies political death for Labour. No language, no warmth no kindness; no generosity, vitality nor optimism. No compassion. If you seek to outflank the coalition from the right, you will turn Labour into a byword for intolerance.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/12/phil-woolas-labour-immigration">Continue reading...</a>Phil WoolasLabourImmigration and asylumPoliticsUK newsRace issuesFri, 12 Nov 2010 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/12/phil-woolas-labour-immigrationJeff Overs/PAHarriet Harman on The Andrew Marr Show, where she suggested that former immigration minister Phil Woolas has no future as a Labour MP. Photograph: Jeff Overs/PAJeff Overs/PAHarriet Harman on BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show, where she suggested that former immigration minister Phil Woolas has no future as a Labour MP. Photograph: Jeff Overs/PASunny Hundal2010-11-12T10:00:00ZPhil Woolas is Labour's fall guy | Dan Hodgeshttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/10/phil-woolas-labour-fall-guy
Harriet Harman claims Woolas has been cut off from the party for lying. But really he is a scapegoat for Labour's race politics<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/09/backbenchers-criticise-harman-over-woolas" title="Guardian: Labour backbenchers round on Harriet Harman for casting out Phil Woolas">Phil Woolas is a scapegoat</a>. The fall guy. Ritual sacrifice to the conscience of the liberal left.</p><p>&quot;Prejudice has no place in the new politics,&quot; cries the mob. Maybe. But hypocrisy and false piety clearly do.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/10/phil-woolas-labour-fall-guy">Continue reading...</a>Phil WoolasHarriet HarmanLabourRace issuesImmigration and asylumPoliticsUK newsWed, 10 Nov 2010 11:59:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/10/phil-woolas-labour-fall-guyMurdo Macleod/Murdo MacLeodHarriet Harman has suggested Phil Woolas has no future in the Labour party. Photograph: Murdo MacleodMurdo Macleod/Murdo MacLeodUK Immigration Minister, Phil Woolas, visiting UK Border Agency offices in Glasgow, Scotland, UK 15/12/2009
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Phillip; Phil; Woolas; rejected; Asylum; seekers; glasgow; immigration; bogus; Photograph: Murdo MacleodDan Hodges2010-11-10T11:59:00ZWere all those Lib Dem MPs lying about fees if they meant it at the time? | Michael White's political briefinghttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/09/lib-dems-fees
The same accusation of lying levelled at Phil Woolas applies to every Lib Dem who promised to vote against higher tuition fees<p>As weekend bloggers were quick to spot after two judges deprived Labour MP Phil Woolas of his Oldham East seat for lying in campaign literature, the same accusation could be levelled against every Liberal Democrat MP who promised to vote against higher tuition fees for students before changing their coalition minds.</p><p>But would an election court rule in their favour, as they appear to have done in this case, because they sincerely meant it at the time, Labour MPs were asking around Westminster yesterday? Woolas, a former NUS president and immigration minister, is a political bruiser, not universally liked, whom some colleagues think got what he deserved at the election court – the first such expulsion for 99 years.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/09/lib-dems-fees">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsPhil WoolasPoliticsUK newsTue, 09 Nov 2010 08:00:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/09/lib-dems-feesMichael White2010-11-09T08:00:08ZOldham could point the way to a Lib Dem obliterationhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/08/oldham-byelection-lib-dem-obliteration
The byelection will provide a perfect experiment in coalition politics. Perversely, Labour has least to worry about<p>Oldham makes an odd sort of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae" title="Thermopylae">Thermopylae</a>, but Labour and the Liberal Democrats seem destined to choose it as their field of battle. Twice now dirty campaigns among the old mills and hills of Lancashire and&nbsp;Yorkshire have warped national politics. Anyone who believes that Labour has an unquestionable hold on&nbsp;the word progressive should study what happened.</p><p>There was a 1995 byelection in which Labour accused the Lib Dem candidate of being soft on drugs and high on taxes while rival teams in Transit vans patrolled the moors at night ripping down each other's posters. Bad blood helped rule out any sort of formal centre-left alliance in 1997, and Lib Dem folk memories of it go some way to explaining why the party membership tolerated coalition with the Conservatives 15 years later.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/08/oldham-byelection-lib-dem-obliteration">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsPhil WoolasConservativesLiberal-Conservative coalitionUK newsPoliticsMon, 08 Nov 2010 07:00:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/08/oldham-byelection-lib-dem-obliterationJulian Glover2010-11-08T07:00:13ZThe lying game | Editorialhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/07/editorial-phil-woolas-politicians-lies
Politicians are no better or worse than the rest of us<p>Many people were surprised to discover last week that it is against the law for politicians to tell lies about each other. A court ruled that campaign literature, in which former Labour minister <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/05/phil-woolas-ejected-parliament-election" title="">Phil Woolas</a> accused his Lib Dem opponent of cosying up to Islamic militants, contravened an old statute prohibiting &quot;false statements&quot; against a rival's &quot;character or conduct&quot;.</p><p>The decision, at first glance, confirms suspicions that politicians are scoundrels. But another conclusion is possible. No profession is immune from dishonesty, but politics is one where it is most conspicuously exposed and (by voters more often than courts) eventually punished.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/07/editorial-phil-woolas-politicians-lies">Continue reading...</a>Phil WoolasPoliticsSun, 07 Nov 2010 00:02:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/07/editorial-phil-woolas-politicians-liesEditorial2010-11-07T00:02:03ZWhen politics gets personal | Editorialhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/06/phil-woolas-politics-personal-editorial
Elections must be conducted according to the law and the courts have to enforce the law<p>Elections in marginal constituencies are always harder fought than elections in safe seats. Elections in seats where race is an issue are often more scurrilous than elections where race counts for little. Both factors came together explosively in the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/d44.stm" title="">Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency in May</a>, where Labour's Phil Woolas, a combative campaigner, faced a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrat Elwyn Watkins and the Conservative Kashif Ali. The contest was one of the roughest in the general election, and Mr Woolas squeaked home over Mr Watkins by a majority of 103.</p><p>According to Mr Watkins, Mr Woolas did not just fight rough, but dirty. Yesterday <a href="http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgments/judgment-oldham-election-05112010.pdf" title="">an election court upheld the Lib Dem claim</a> that Mr Woolas broke the law by knowingly publishing three lies about Mr Watkins – that he was wooing the votes of Muslims advocating violence, that he refused to condemn Muslims preaching violence against Mr Woolas, and that he had reneged on a pledge to live in the constituency. Because the first two allegations were so serious, as the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/03/roshonara-choudhry-jailed-life-attack" title="">fate of Stephen Timms</a> has underscored, the court yesterday annulled the election and barred Mr Woolas from standing for office for three years. Unless the verdict is overturned, there will be a byelection and Mr Woolas will be ineligible to stand.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/06/phil-woolas-politics-personal-editorial">Continue reading...</a>Phil WoolasPoliticsElections 2010Sat, 06 Nov 2010 00:09:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/06/phil-woolas-politics-personal-editorialEditorial2010-11-06T00:09:00ZPhil Woolas: a lesson in irresponsible behaviour | Inayat Bunglawalahttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/05/phil-woolas-court-ruling
What was the local Labour party thinking of when it allowed this incendiary madness to take place?<p>Phil Woolas's wafer-thin victory in Oldham East and Saddleworth seat – he won by 103 votes following two recounts – was one of the more surprising results of the 2010 election. The former immigration minister had been defending a vulnerable 3,590 majority and had recently appeared to be humiliated on national television by Joanna Lumley over his handling of the row over UK residency for Gurkha veterans. He had already alienated much of the sizeable local Muslim community through a series of patronising comments including <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/pandora/woolas-dismisses-young-muslims-views-as-crap-413775.html" title="Independent: Woolas dismisses young Muslim's views as 'crap'">dismissing as &quot;a load of crap&quot;</a> a young Muslim woman's concern that the UK's foreign policy in the Middle East was contributing to the radicalisation problem. Add to this the national outrage over MPs' expenses during which it was reported that Woolas had been <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8112025/Immigration-Minister-claimed-for-womens-clothing-and-panty-liners.html" title="Telegraph: Phil Woolas expenses: former minister claimed for women's clothing and panty liners">submitting expenses for tampons and women's clothing</a> and his chances of holding on to his seat did not look too promising. So how did he manage it?</p><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/05/phil-woolas-immigration-leaflets-oldham-east-rerun" title="Guardian: Phil Woolas immigration leaflets case: high court orders election rerun in Oldham East">Today's ruling</a> by two high court judges in a specially convened election court found that Woolas smeared the Liberal Democrat opponent, Elwyn Watkins, as someone who pandered to Muslim extremists. In the words of <a href="http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgments/judgment-oldham-election-05112010.pdf" title="">the judgment</a>, Woolas &quot;made or published several false statements of fact in relation to the petitioner's personal character or conduct which he had no reasonable grounds for believing to be true and did not believe to be true.&quot;</p><p>&quot;It is vital to our democracy that those who make statements about the political character and conduct of election candidates are not deterred from speaking freely for fear that they may be found in breach of election laws.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/05/phil-woolas-court-ruling">Continue reading...</a>Phil WoolasGeneral election 2010PoliticsImmigration and asylumUK newsIslamRace issuesFri, 05 Nov 2010 19:44:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/05/phil-woolas-court-rulingMurdo MacLeodPhil Woolas seems unrepentant over his election campaign, despite a court ruling. Photograph: Murdo MacLeodMurdo MacLeodPhil Woolas seems unrepentant over his election campaign, despite a court ruling. Photograph: Murdo MacLeodInayat Bunglawala2010-11-05T19:44:51ZCan Labour 'out-nasty' the Tories on asylum? | Simon Parkerhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/25/labour-yarls-wood-asylum
Phil Woolas's defence of the inhumane Yarl's Wood removal centre reflects Labour's shift to the right on asylum<p>Phil Woolas's response to a further damning <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/24/yarls-wood-children-baby-report" title="Guardian: Yarl's Wood detained baby for 100 days, damning report reveals">indictment of Yarl's Wood</a> immigration removal centre by the chief inspector of prisons shows that the government has to resort to scare tactics and lies to defend a policy that has been condemned by several royal colleges of medicine, the <a href="http://www.fphm.org.uk/" title="Faculty of Public Health website">Faculty of Public Health</a>, the former children's commissioner for England, many leading Christian and Jewish faith leaders, all the major children's charities, and 121 MPs — including 49 members of Woolas's own parliamentary party.</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/25/labour-yarls-wood-asylum">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumLabourHuman rightsLawUK newsPhil WoolasThu, 25 Mar 2010 15:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/25/labour-yarls-wood-asylumSean Dempsey/PAA discredited policy ... Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre. Photograph: Sean Dempsey/PASean Dempsey/PAYarl's Wood centre in Bedfordshire. Photograph: Sean Dempsey/PASimon Parker2010-03-25T15:00:01ZStop imprisoning children now | Simon Parkerhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/oct/21/petition-against-detention-of-children
Would Phil Woolas let his children be locked up? This shameful practice of detaining families seeking asylum must stop<p>Henry Porter <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/oct/18/henry-porter-asylum-seekers-immigration" title="Observer: We are shockingly complacent">opened</a> his Observer column this week on the plight of the 2,000 children the UK government arrests and imprisons each year with the sobering comment: &quot;Just because we have got into the habit of ignoring something that is wrong doesn't mean it becomes right.&quot;</p><p>Why does this appalling and abusive practice continue under a government that apparently still claims to stand for social justice, human rights and the elimination of child cruelty and deprivation? Various home secretaries and their immigration ministers have received regular representations from <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/alaynsleygreen" title="Guardian: Al Aynsley Green">Sir Al Aynsley Green</a>, the children's commissioner; a host of leading children's charities; the refugee council; trade unions; peers of the realm; leading bishops; and dozens of their own MPs. All to no avail.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/oct/21/petition-against-detention-of-children">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumRefugeesSocietyPoliticsChildrenHouse of CommonsUK newsPhil WoolasWed, 21 Oct 2009 07:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/oct/21/petition-against-detention-of-childrenSimon Parker2009-10-21T07:00:01ZWho wants to be a citizen here? | Shazia Mirzahttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/aug/03/immigration-citizenship-points-passport
Your host, Phil Woolas, awards points for being docile, as you aim for the big prize: a UK passport<p>This country is turning into a game show. Welcome to Who Wants to Be a Citizen Here? Collect as many points as&nbsp;you can and go for the&nbsp;ultimate prize, a British passport. Your host is the immigration minister, <a href="http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/organisation/ministers1/phil-woolas/" title="Phil&nbsp;Woolas">Phil&nbsp;Woolas</a>, who yesterday unveiled his&nbsp;calculator for awarding points towards &quot;<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/03/home-office-citizenship-proposals" title="earned citizenship">earned citizenship</a>&quot;. To&nbsp;become a permanent British citizen, you have to earn your points, and – take&nbsp;careful note – points will be taken away from you for bad behaviour. It's like being at public school.</p><p>I blame Tesco. It started this whole points business. You just don't feel like part of the gang if you don't have a club card. It's government by Tesco. Except Tesco doesn't threaten to take your points away.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/aug/03/immigration-citizenship-points-passport">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumSocietyUK newsPoliticsPhil WoolasMon, 03 Aug 2009 21:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/aug/03/immigration-citizenship-points-passportShazia Mirza2009-08-03T21:30:00ZOur border controls are firm but fair | Phil Woolashttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/14/phil-woolas-border-controls
Part of our job is to sift out those who want to break our rules or harm the public – not 'poets with strange sounding names'<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/henryporter/2009/jul/11/artists-barred-britain-visa" title="Guardian: Stopping culture at our borders">Henry Porter's recent piece on Britain's visa system</a> was at best naive, and at worst designed to deliberately misinform people about our immigration system. To dismiss Britain's border security – put in place to protect the public from very real threats – as &quot;a campaign against poets with strange sounding names and of Muslim origin&quot; is quite frankly ludicrous.</p><p>The government is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/24/arts-humanities-support" title="Guardian: Minister pledges to promote arts and humanities degrees">acutely aware</a> of how important the flourishing arts sector is to Britain, and we have never been less than supportive. Foreign artists play a major part of this industry's success – but that does not mean they will be treated any differently from the millions of people who apply to visit the UK each year.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/14/phil-woolas-border-controls">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumPoliticsUK newsCultureSocietyPhil WoolasTue, 14 Jul 2009 09:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/14/phil-woolas-border-controlsPhil Woolas2009-07-14T09:00:01ZA bill to strengthen Britain's borders | Phil Woolashttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/02/borders-citizenship-immigration-bill
The new borders, citizenship and immigration bill will ensure that people building a new life here have earned the right to do so<p>People are calling for greater transparency in the workings of parliament and that is why we're taking the opportunity to talk about the importance of the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/feb/13/civil-liberties-immigration" title="">borders, citizenship and immigration bill</a>. We are already seeing the benefits of the huge changes we have made to the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/immigration" title="">immigration</a> system – the points-based system is now up and running, border staff are stopping more illegals coming here than ever before and 30,000 <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jan/22/explainer-identity-cards" title="">ID cards</a> have been issued to foreign nationals.</p><p>But we're not stopping there. The <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/borderscitizenshipbill/" title="bill">bill</a>, which has its second reading in the Commons today, will allow us to go even further. It contains measures to radically change the path to citizenship by introducing a new probationary citizenship stage. This means that the earliest an economic migrant will be able to become a citizen or permanent resident will be six years after entry. For some, it could take as long as 10 years. This will ensure foreign nationals earn the right to be here, it will break the automatic link between temporary and permanent stay in the UK, and it will delay migrants' access to benefits and so save taxpayers millions of pounds.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/02/borders-citizenship-immigration-bill">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumPoliticsUK newsUK civil libertiesPhil WoolasTue, 02 Jun 2009 16:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/02/borders-citizenship-immigration-billPhil Woolas2009-06-02T16:00:01ZPoll: Joanna Lumley's absolutely fabulous campaignhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/poll/2009/may/08/joanna-lumley-gurkhas
Actor <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/07/gurkhas-joanna-lumley-phil-woolas">Joanna Lumley has put in the performance</a> of a lifetime in recent days as spokesperson for the campaign for retired <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gurkhas">Gurkha soldiers'</a> right to settle in the UK. Should she be prime minister? <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/poll/2009/may/08/joanna-lumley-gurkhas">Continue reading...</a>GurkhasImmigration and asylumMilitaryPoliticsUK newsJoanna LumleyPhil WoolasFri, 08 May 2009 08:53:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/poll/2009/may/08/joanna-lumley-gurkhasLUKE MACGREGOR/REUTERSBritish actress Joanna Lumley stands with former Gurkha soldiers outside the Houses of Parliament. Photograph: Reuters/Luke MacGregorDan Kitwood/Getty ImagesJoanna Lumley arrives at the Houses of Parliament to discuss Gurkhas' immigration rights with Gordon Brown. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesGuardian Staff2009-05-08T08:53:04ZSunder Katwala: The Office for National Statistics can't regard media reporting as none of its businesshttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/mar/04/immigration-dailymail
Phil Woolas has criticised the Office for National Statistics after recent immigration figures only made the debate more toxic<p>The Daily Mail is <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1159033/MAIL-COMMENT-Fiddling-figures.html">fired up about immigration this morning</a>. An editorial claims &quot;Stalin would have been proud&quot; of the immigration minister Phil Woolas following his criticisms of the Office for National Statistics. Woolas suggested the ONS was either naive or playing politics by handling population statistics in a way that, predictably, fuelled the most toxic and least informed aspects of our current heated debates on immigration.</p><p>But the Daily Mail was <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1153928/One-people-living-Britain-born-overseas-300-000-foreigners-settle-UK.html">fired up about immigration last Wednesday too</a>, giving prominence to the finding that one in nine of those resident in Britain are foreign-born. Though this was covered in several newspapers, the Mail's report was particularly absurd, in complaining that the British-born descendants of the foreign-born were counted as British, rather than as immigrants like their parents and grandparents. Yes, the numbers would be higher if some British-born citizens were counted as immigrants or foreigners. But they are neither.</p><p>Dear Sunder</p><p>Most people believe that it is the government who have released these figures in this way. In fact, it was the ONS with no ministerial involvement and indeed despite my objections. What's worse is that the press release which ran to nine pages highlighted the one in nine figure as the main finding. So, government gets the blame by some for whipping up anti-foreign sentiment when it is the independent ONS who are playing politics. The justification from the ONS who had, out of schedule, highlighted the figure two weeks earlier because it was &quot;topical&quot; is, at best, naive or, at worst, sinister.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/mar/04/immigration-dailymail">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumDaily MailMediaNewspapers & magazinesPoliticsOffice for National StatisticsPhil WoolasWed, 04 Mar 2009 16:39:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/mar/04/immigration-dailymailSunder Katwala2009-03-04T16:39:34ZZoe Williams: The useful Mr Phil Woolashttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/dec/03/phil-woolas-comment
The minister's bungling reveals him to be what Labour needs: someone to take the Prescott role<p>At some point before it disappears offline, I must urge you to go back to the BBC website and listen to Phil Woolas on the Today programme last Friday. He was invited on to rebut oblique claims by the Archbishop of York that he was immoral. &quot;I don't accept that being tough is immoral,&quot; he said. So that settles that, then. By happy chance, though, this was the morning after Damian Green was arrested, so like an opportunistic virus, Ed Stourton swept in. &quot;I know nothing about the case,&quot; he said, and, &quot;I can assure you that ministers had no knowledge of this whatsoever.&quot; Whatever happened to &quot;I can't comment on an ongoing case&quot;? Or &quot;that's not what I came on to talk about&quot;? None of that lack of knowledge, however, stopped him from intoning, repeatedly, the dreaded word &quot;conspiracy&quot;. </p><p>You would be hard pushed to find someone who would, on the spot, solemnly lay out the extent of their ignorance - let alone guarantee that of their party - at the same time as dropping great, thudding hints that the other lot had been up to nefarious wickedness.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/dec/03/phil-woolas-comment">Continue reading...</a>LabourPoliticsPhil WoolasWed, 03 Dec 2008 00:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/dec/03/phil-woolas-commentZoe Williams2008-12-03T00:01:00ZResponse: Phil Woolas should blame his own department, not asylum lawyershttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/20/response-immigration-woolas-refugees
The Home Office's culture of disbelief is the reason for so many successful appeals, says Caroline Slocock<p>Immigration minister Phil Woolas tells the Guardian that most asylum seekers are economic migrants rather than refugees fleeing persecution, accusing lawyers and charities of &quot;playing the system&quot; (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/18/immigration-policy-phil-woolas-racism">'You can't come in'</a>, November 18). But instead of scapegoating lawyers, he should be exercising humanity and sharpening up his department's decision-making. It is ministers that are playing the asylum system, and justice in Britain is at stake.</p><p>According to the Independent Asylum Commission, within the Home Office there is a &quot;culture of disbelief&quot; against asylum seekers. Woolas is leading from the front, acting as judge and jury when others have rightly been paid to do the job. Each case should be judged objectively on its merits, not general prejudice. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/20/response-immigration-woolas-refugees">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumPoliticsSocietyWorld newsPhil WoolasThu, 20 Nov 2008 00:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/20/response-immigration-woolas-refugeesCaroline Slocock2008-11-20T00:01:00ZKeith Best: Phil Woolas should show some regret at Labour's treatment of asylum seekershttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/19/immigration-law
Instead of displaying contempt for due process, Phil Woolas should show regret at Labour's treatment of asylum seekers<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/nov/18/immigration-policy-health-politics">Phil Woolas's attack</a> on immigration lawyers shows contempt for the rule of law that binds together a civilised society. It does no favours for himself or his government. It shows a propensity for diktat, an arrogance of the belief in the rectitude of government and its ability to change the rules without regard to the law. </p><p>This bodes ill for a country whose history for the last 400 years has been to establish the supremacy of the law over those in power however high they may be. It is the lynchpin of freedom and evens the balance between the power of the state and the vulnerable individual. <a href="http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/phil_woolas/oldham_east_and_saddleworth">Phil Woolas</a> may not appreciate that and feel that, despite his inexperience in migration matters, he can pontificate against lawyers. I wish him well in gaining a better understanding. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/19/immigration-law">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumLawUK newsPoliticsPhil WoolasWed, 19 Nov 2008 16:33:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/19/immigration-lawKeith Best2008-11-19T16:33:09Z